Medieval scholars strike back

More than 1,300 medieval historians launch a counter-attack today on the notion that their field is merely "an intellectual adornment" - underlining the point by firing turnips from a 12th-century weapon of mass destruction.

The missiles from a replica trebuchet siege engine will sail over Leeds University during a break in debates on subjects remorselessly relevant to the modern world, including exaggerated claims of enemy strength by monarchs hell-bent on war.

Power dressing, women's rights and regional government are also on the agenda of the 10th International Medieval Congress, which has been given edge by dismissive comments on the subject attributed to the education secretary, Charles Clarke. He was quoted in May as telling a private seminar in Oxford that medieval studies were just an adornment - or, in another version, "all right for ornamental purposes but there is no reason for the state to pay for them".

Mr Clarke's denials were genially accepted by the congress yesterday, partly because members are meticulous researchers who require several sources, but mainly because of the limelight which has poured in on their field.

"We were never too worried," said the conference organiser, Axel Muller of Leeds' International Medieval Institute, "if only because one of my former students works in Charles Clarke's press office."

The three-day conference, with speakers from 40 countries, has added an emergency discussion on "Are medieval studies relevant today?" to its programme in the wake of the Clarke furore.

Brenda Bolton, of London University, said: "It may be one-sided - there are so many aspects of medieval power with a resonance in the modern world. The occasional dodgy dossier comes to light and the middle ages were also precisely the period in which men 'wearing ladies' tights' did much to lay the foundations for many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy today."

The trebuchet, which was finished at the Royal Armouries in Leeds only last week, has yet to be fired.

Like then, like now

Bad handwriting: Tackling the medieval equivalent of doctors' prescriptions has led to advances in computer technology, especially in Japan where teams have electronically deconstructed famous documents.

Travel brochures: Medieval pilgrims, merchants and travellers who never left their monastery armchairs set a standard for graphic descriptions (unicorns and the realm of Prester John) which are the envy of Bill Bryson.

TV comedy: Soaps and sitcoms have an antecedent in plays such as Hick Scorner, the first urban comedy known in English, which was performed at the Leeds congress last night. The 1514 story of Southwark wide boy Hick is uncannily similar to Only Fools and Horses.

Gay clergy: Congress papers look at the celibate world of medieval monks, the place of sacramental robes in power dressing among senior clergy and, knowledge as power among parish priests in a session called "I know what you did last summer".

Culture block: Modern ignorance between the west and Islam has deep roots, but studies of the crusades, medieval trade and intellectual exchanges are also rich in examples of cooperation.